UPDATE: Suspect "wasn't going to be taken alive" in police shooting

When police approached, the man refused to drop the knife. According to records, the suspect stated he "wasn't going to be taken alive." Officer Thomas Frein was the officer who shot the man, according to the incident report.

Though officials would not say which police officers were on the scene of a police shooting Wednesday morning, their online records name the first officers on scene -- including the officer who previously shot and killed a Waterloo man in 2009.

Online records name the first Waterloo police officers on scene in a Wednesday morning shooting -- including the officer who previously shot and killed a Waterloo man in 2009.More >>

Though officials would not say which police officers were on the scene of a police shooting Wednesday morning, their online records name the first officers on scene -- including the officer who previously shot and killed a Waterloo man in 2009.More >>

WATERLOO (KWWL) -

The investigation continues into an early morning, officer-involved shooting in downtown Waterloo on Wednesday.

Police say they were called to the 200 block of East 4th street after reports of a man walking down the street holding a knife.

When police approached, the man refused to drop the knife. According to records, the suspect stated he "wasn't going to be taken alive."

Officer Thomas Frein was the officer who shot the man, according to the incident report.

The Department of Criminal Investigation will have the final say as to whether Officer Frein's actions were justified. DCI's investigation is ongoing, and will take several weeks to complete.

Until the DCI's investigation is complete, Frein will be on paid administrative leave from the Waterloo Police Department.

At this time, police are not releasing the suspect's name or condition, but a spokesman with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations says the man is expected to be OK.

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This is the second officer-involved shooting in Waterloo in just the past six months.

Safety Services director Dan Trelka says deadly force is not something officers want to do, but situations like the one Wednesday morning change quickly and the danger can't be underestimated.

"None of our officers, or any in the county, want to have to utilize deadly force when they come into work each and every day," Trelka said. "The officers simply react to the actions of other people."

In downtown Waterloo Wednesday morning, that meant one officer firing his gun at a man holding a knife who was threatening to hurt police.

"Study after study, incident after incident, have determined a person with a knife can inflict bodily harm on another person rather quickly, sometimes faster than a person can make a decision mentally to even fire a weapon," said Trelka.

Some have questioned why a Taser or other device wasn't used to bring down the suspect in this case.

Trelka says while the Taser is a useful device, it's not always a guaranteed way to end a threat.

KWWL obtained dashboard camera video from an incident in Wisconsin in 2008, when Trelka was police chief there.

The man seen in the video was holding a knife, and still trying to attack officers with it while he was being Tased. As a second Taser was deployed, the suspect was still violent. Remarkably, police weren't hurt.

But it can show that, in situations like the one in Waterloo Wednesday and in the heat of the moment, pulling a Taser might not always be the best solution.